Cross-modal resonances in creative multimodal metaphors: Breaking out of conceptual prisons

This article uses examples of multimodal metaphors from three different genres in order to develop a new understanding of the nature of creativity in metaphor. I argue that multimodality provides distinctive opportunities for metaphor creativity by exploiting the unique affordances of the different semiotic modes and the possibility of combining them in unexpected ways. Such innovation at the level of representation may encourage novel thought patterns, I suggest, even in such cases where the underlying metaphorical mappings are relatively conventional. The notion of “cross-modal resonances” is introduced to emphasize the role of unconscious, preverbal, intuitive understanding and the emotions in producing and interpreting creative multimodal metaphors.